Behind the Scenes
by StoryWriterGirl101
Summary: Disclaimer: This is NOT a fanfiction of the actual movie, it's an OC about the MAKING of the movie. Callie is chosen to play the oldest of the Banning children and is surrounded by amazing actors. Will she be as good as them?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This story is NOT a fanfiction of the actual movie, it's an OC of the MAKING of the movie, but it takes place in 2014 (just because I have no idea how things worked in the 90's) but everything else is completely accurate... in my mind. XD PS: Just so you know, all of the pictures used are headshots of Callie.**

**Callie's POV**

"Wow," was all I could say the whole car ride here. It was my first day in LA for the movie, _Hook_. I was a child actor and this was the first movie I would be in. I was so excited. For my first movie, it was a pretty good one. I would get to meet Steven Spielberg, Robin Williams, Dustin Hoffman, Julia Roberts and Bob Hoskins. I would also get to meet Charlie Korsmo, who I thought was a total 'cutie' at the time (to use my own words). Anyway, I had just arrived at my hotel in Los Angeles.

"Cal, come with me," mom said. She hopped out of the car and walked up to the hotel. I thanked the man who drove us from the airport and followed my mom. Some other guys took our bags out of the car and brought them up to our room. I followed mom to the check in desk, where she stood, talking to the guy at the desk for a good fifteen minutes before we walked away to the elevator. Our room was really high up (necessary security standards, mom said) and when we got there, I said, 'Wow,' again. The view was amazing. The room was huge, more of a suite.

"Have you forgotten how to say anything except 'Wow?'" she asked. I nodded. "Well, you'd better fix that before shooting starts next week, or else Steven will have to cast a new Hartlyn Banning." I laughed. That was my character, and I loved everything about her. She had sass, spunk, and an awesome name. How cool is 'Hartlyn?' Remind me to thank Steven and the writers for that later. Mom had her own room with her own bathroom. Our bedrooms were connected by a door. We each got a TV, a mini-fridge, and a balcony. I sat on my balcony for a few minutes, overlooking the beautiful beach right across from my room in the middle of the day, sun shining down on the already-tan bodies of the Californians who froliced in the sand, a warm breeze hitting my face every few moments.

"I can't believe we get to stay here for a whole year," I said.

"I can't believe it, either," Mom said, walking outside with me. "What are you most excited about?"

"I don't know. There's so much to be excited about! The whole thing is so overwhelming." I had to stop and take a deep breathe. I pinched myself (something I'd been doing a lot today) just to make sure I wasn't dreaming. "I guess I'm most excited about this movie. It's got a great script, a great storyline, and me!" Mom laughed at this.

"You are a great actress," she said. I smiled and blushed.

"What are you most excited about?" I asked her.

"Being a stage mom," she said, sarcastically. I laughed. "I guess I'm most excited to see you be happy, and to see you on the big screen," she said. "Oh! And I'm excited to meet Robin Williams!" I laughed again.

"Mom, you know he's married, right?" I asked.

"Oh, I know, but a girl can dream," she said. I laughed again. Mom had had a crush on Robin for as long as I could remember. I almost gasped at my own thought. _Robin._ I no longer thought of him as 'Robin Williams,' just Robin. We weren't strangers, we were castmates. Well, I hadn't even met him yet.

When our luggage got to the room, mom helped me unpack some of my stuff before she got a phone call. When she came back into the room, I was on the edge of my seat. When she answered the phone, she used the voice she only uses when talking to Steven (I did it again! Not Steven Spielberg, just Steven. Casual. Calm. Cool. AHHH!), you know. The mom voice. Everyone's mom has it. The voice your mom use when she's talking to a stranger. The fake voice. You know what I'm talking about, right?

"Who was that?" I asked, knowing the answer.

"Steven Spielberg," she said.

"Mom, you can just call him Steven."

"Okay. Steven. Wow, that's fun!"

"I know, right!" I said, and we both had a small feeling of 'Wow, we're so cool.' She cleared her throat.

"He wanted to know if you memorized your lines of not, and I told him we did, most of them, anyway."

"This early? We just got here and shooting doesn't start til next week. He knows I only need a few days to memorize my lines, not a whole week."

"There are going to be a lot of kids in this movie, honey. He just wants to make sure he doesn't have any issues with lines." she said. I sighed. "Anyway, he said it's great that you know most of them, and he said to keep practicing and memorize as much as you can. A lot of the cast still isn't here yet, but when people start to get here, he said it would be a great idea to practice with them."

"That seems like a fun idea," I decided. She smiled.

"He said there is no date to be off book by, just as long as you don't have to bring your script to shooting," she said. (**A/N: I will be using actor terms in here, but I'll define them for you. The 'book' in 'Off Book' is the script. When you are off book, you don't need the script. The director might set a date for you to be 'off book' by, and by that date, you have to have your lines memorized**). "Also, he wanted to organize a staff and cast party sort-of-thing for the adults, like Robin and Dustin and everyone so that we could get together before shooting and he asked if I'd like to be there. I said yes. It's tomorrow night," she said. I smiled. I was glad mom could have as many fun opportunities as me.

"When will I get to meet the cast?" I asked.

"I dunno. Maybe we can walk around the hotel and see if we spot anyone," she said, joking.

"No way! That's creepy! Even if we do see someone, we can't just go up to them and be like, 'Oh, hey, I'm gonna be in the movie with you! Let's hug!'" I said. She laughed.

"Well, you don't have to hug them," she said, going to her room and unpacking her things.

"So where are we shooting first?" I called through the door to her room.

"Well, we're only staying in LA to shoot two scenes, the rest are going to be shot in the studios in Culver. I think we're going to shoot the baseball game first," she said. "Then, the play scene at a high school and then we'll be moved to a new hotel in Culver."

"Oh, cool," I said, slightly disappointed that we wouldn't get to stay in LA.

"So, anyway, I was thinking, since we only get a week and a half in LA, we should have as much fun as we can. Wanna go out to dinner tonight?" she asked. I nodded, then remembered she couldn't see me.

"Yeah! Can we go swimming, too?" I asked.

"You read my mind," she said, walking into my room with her bathing suit on. I laughed again (so full of laughs today) and rushed to put my bikini on. I got a towel, sunglasses, my phone, my script (practice makes perfect), and some sunscreen and put it all in a beach bag, (even though we were going to the pool).

When we got to the pool, the first thing I saw was a little girl (about six or seven) jumping around as her mom put spray-on sunscreen on her.

"It's cold!" the girl complained.

"Now, only five minutes in the pool, and then you have to get out and-" the mom said when she was done putting the sunscreen on her.

"I knooooow!" the girl interrupted, running and jumping in the pool. He mom sighed, when she saw us, she raised her eyebrows. She looked us up and down, as if she could tell we weren't from California. Was it really that obvious?

"Hello!" Mom said, sitting next to the little girl's mother. I smiled and sat, too.

"Hi," the girl's mom said.

"I'm Jessica," my mom said.

"I'm Trinity," she said, shaking my mom's hand. "That's my daughter, Amber."

"She's very cute," I said. Amber had long, honey-colored hair and blue eyes.

"Thanks you," Trinity said. "What's your name?" she asked me.

"I'm Cal-"

"This is my daughter, Calista," my mom said.

"Moooom," I said. She knew I hated when she used my full name. I like Cal or Callie better.

"Wow, that's a very pretty name," Trinity said. I blushed.

"Thanks."

"Amber! Out of the pool, please," she called to her daugher. "This is how I bribe her," she whispered to my mom. She mom's brows furrowed, but we suddenly understood what she meant when she pulled a (surprise, surprise) script out of her bag. Amber sighed loudly.

"If you practice this scene with me, you can go back in the pool," Trinity said.

"Fine," Amber said, annoyed. "Daddy, lets go home. Please? He's just a mean old man without a mommy," she said.

"Yeah, dad, let's go. He can't hurt us anymore," Trinity read.

"Come on, dad, don't be as bad as him," I said. Amber and Trinity looked up at me. "Sup, little sister." I said to Amber. She laughed, then she looked me up and down just like her mom did a few minutes ago.

"I like her," Amber decided.

"Well, good, because you're stuck with us for the next year," my mom said. Trinity laughed.

"Cool. Now we've acquainted 2/3 of the Banning kids! We just need one more and we'll be the three musketeers!" I said. Amber gasped.

"I'm so excited about meeting Charlie. He's soooo cute," she said. I laughed. Seven year olds with crushes were always adorable.

"I know, right!"

"He's going to play your brother," my mom said, slightly freaked out.

"Oh, I know, but a girl can dream," I mimicked what she said earlier. She laughed.

"Alrighty then," she replied.

"Why don't you girls go play in the pool for a while?" Trinity asked. I looked at Amber, Amber looked at me, and we both bolted off to the pool as fast as we could. We jumped.

"CANNONBALL!" We screamed and _whoosh._ The cold water hit me hard. I opened my eyes and saw Amber laughing underwater. It felt like we were already family.


	2. Chapter 2

The next night, mom was feeling very hesitant to leave me in the hotel room by myself.

"Are you sure you don't want me to stay?" she asked.

"Mom, don't be silly. Go have fun," I said.

"I just don't want anything bad to happen," she said.

"Like what? Are you worried I'm going to be kidnapped by Captain Hook?" I asked. She laughed.

"Alright. Well, if you're sure you'll be okay," she said, leaning over my bed and giving me a kiss good-bye. "I'll be back later." I smiled.

"Don't rush back," I said.

"I won't," she said, closing the hotel door (and locking it) behind her. I sat in my bed for a while before I decided to practice my lines. Just as I was about to start the first scene, I heard a knock at the door. I looked through the peephole, but didn't see anyone there. _Probably just a prank or something._ I thought. I walked away, but a few seconds later, I heard another knock. My mom had taught me not to open the door to strangers, so I stayed as quiet as I could. My heart was pounding. What if I really was about to be kidnapped?

"Callie? Are you in there?" I heard a small voice from outside the door. I let out a loud breath. _Amber._ I opened the door.

"Amber! You scared me half to death. Where is your mom?" I asked.

"Probably with _your _mom," she replied. _Of course. Why didn't I think of that?_

"She just left you alone?" I asked.

"No...she left me w-"

"Amber!" I heard a voice behind her. "I told you to stay put!"

"Ahh!" she screamed, running through my room and disappearing from view. A boy that looked like he was about ten came up to me with brown hair and brown eyes, but I was too busy paying attention to what Amber was doing to notice who he was.

"Amber? Where did you go?" I called. She was gone.

"Hide and seek!" I heard from my mom's room. I went in there to look for her, the boy following closely behind.

"Am I getting closer to you?" I asked.

"Nope!" I heard, this time from my room.

"How did she do that?" I asked.

"I have no idea," the boy said, obviously exasperated. Wait a second. I turned and looked at him. My eyes widened.

"You...you're...you..."

"Please don't scream," he said. I giggled. "Sorry. Some people scream when they see me, especially when their eyes get all big like that. It's weird. It makes me feel like the grudge...or Will Ferrell..."

"I wasn't going to scream," I said, although I wasn't sure that was true.

"Hi. I'm Charlie. I guess I'm your little brother," he said.

"I'm Callie," I said.

"AND I'M AMBER! COME LOOK FOR ME!" She called. I smiled. Charlie sighed.

"She's a handful," he said. "I've only been babysitting for ten minutes and I'm already exhausted."

"Babysitting? How old are you?" I asked.

"Thirteen," he said.

"Same." I replied.

"Really?" he asked. I nodded.

"How'd you get stuck babysitting?" I asked.

"I have no idea. I just kinda got stuck with her. At first, it was fun, but then she got bored and now-" we heard a bang from the other room.

"Come find me before I get bored _again_. Then we'll have to play hide and seek in the hotel LOBBY!" she called.

"Crap!" I muttered and ran in the other room to find her.


	3. Chapter 3

"Woah... How'd you do this?" Charlie asked, coming back into the room with more food and drinks to keep Amber occupied.

"I put on a movie and she just kinda...shut up," I said. We were quiet for a few moments.

"You're from the east coast, aren't you?" he asked.

"How'd you know?" I asked.

"Lucky guess...and you're extremely pale," he said. I laughed. "You're lucky, you know."

"Why is that?" I asked

"People don't recognize you...yet..."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You can do whatever you want and go wherever you want without people seeing you and being like, 'Hey, isn't that the kid from What About Bob?' or 'Look, it's the kid from Dick Tracy!'" he replied.

"So...you don't like attention?" I asked. He shrugged.

"I LOVE attention! My mom says I am going to grow up and be the prettiest actress ever and I am going to have boyfriends," Amber said. I giggled. She stood up and started skipping in a circle and singing, "Charlie is my boyfriend! Charlie is my boyfriend! Charlie loves me! Charlie is my boyfriend!" Now, Charlie and I were both laughing. I thought it was cute that she had a crush on him, and he thought so, too. "You know, my mommy made me watch one of the movies that you were in, but it was boring so I didn't like it. I only watched the parts that you were in. I liked that big explosion at the end. Boom!" she said, mimicking the explosion, and throwing her arms up in the air. _What about Bob. Bill Murray. A classic. _

"Really?" Charlie asked. She nodded.

"I can't wait to be in this movie so I can explode!"

"Amber, you aren't going to explode," I said.

"Oh, I know, but a girl can dream," she said, still skipping in a circle. I rolled my eyes. _Monkey see, monkey do. _"CALLIE!" she screamed.

"WHAT?" I screamed back. She laughed.

"I met one of the Lost Boys. His name is Thomas. He's six and he's cute," she replied.

"That's weird. I thought Steven was only casting nine year olds and up," I said.

"Yeah, but he said he went into Stevens office, banged his fist on the table and said, 'You want me in your movie!' and now he's here," she said. I laughed. Cute. I picked up my phone and noticed the time.

"Ten-thirty?!" I said. "Okay, children. Bed. Now!"

"Excuse me, but I'm the boss here," Charlie said. Our eyes met. _It's on._

"August 20th," I said.

"_July_ 20th," he smirked. I pouted, defeated. He was a whole month older than me, therefore, he _was _the boss.

"Okay, children. Bed. Now!" he said.

"My birthday is in October. I win! Okay, children. Bed. Now!" Amber replied. We laughed.

"Amber, if you go back to my room, I'll give you extra ice cream before bed," Charlie said. She gasped and ran out my hotel door as fast as she could, but not before running into my mom, Trinity (who went chasing after Amber), and a tall woman with brown hair, who I assumed was Charlie's mother.

"Charles! I told you to stay in the room!" his mom said.

"I know, but-"

"He was having trouble looking after Amber, so he brought her here and we watched a movie," I said.

"Oh, well, that was really nice. Thank you, Calista," my mom said.

"Calista. That's a cool name," Charlie said. I blushed, annoyed that my mom had told people my full name, yet again, and even more annoyed now that Charlie knew it, but happy that he thought it was 'cool.'

"Thanks," I replied. He got up to leave with his mom, and he looked back at me. I shot him a joking look that said, 'You owe me!' and he smiled and nodded. Once they were gone (Trinity followed closely behind Mrs. Korsmo), mom shut the door and squealed.

"That fun, huh?" I asked.

"That fun and _more_!" she replied. "Dustin was super nice, Steven was...Steven, and ROBIN! Don't even get me started on Robin," she said. "I also met a lot of the kids' parents, like Debbie, Charlie's mom. Oh, and I met this woman, Amanda, whose son was on Cheers! You know that show. He got the part of a Lost Boy by banging a fist on Steven's desk. What was his name? Timmy? No..."

"Thomas?" I asked. She nodded.

"Yeah! Thomas. I saw a picture of him. He's really-"

"Cute?" I asked.

"Yeah. How'd you know?"

"I've heard," I said. She gave me a confused look. "Anyway, did you meet Julia?" I asked.

"No, she wasn't there. Steven said she has a stalker, so security is really tight for her. The only people that are authorized to work with her are Robin and Steven at the moment," mom said. I frowned. I felt kinda bad for her.

On Saturday (two days before filming began), all of the kids met at a restaurant near the hotel. Charlie and I stood off to the side and it was apparent that we were the only two socially awkward people there, as everyone else was talking and having a great time as if they'd known each other for years, rather than a few minutes. Charlie and I didn't even talk to each other and avoided eye contact whenever possible. Soon, a tall boy came up to us and tried to make an effort to get us to join everyone else.

"Hi! I'm Dante," he said.

"I'm Callista," I said, smiling.

"I'm Charlie," he said quietly. What happened to him? Just the other night, he was so much fun. Now he seemed different. Deflated. Maybe he just didn't like crowds or something.

"Cool. I heard you're Pan's kids. Sounds like a pretty sweet role," he said.

"I'm sure it will be," I said. I glanced over and saw Amber running over to us with a little boy chasing her. He had fuzzy hair and brown eyes.

"Callie!" she said when she got to me, out of breath. "This is Tommy."

"I'm Tommy," he said.

"Hi, Tommy," I said.

"I like your shoes," he said before tagging Amber and running off. This time, she went chasing him. _Cute,_ I thought. Dante laughed. A few minutes later, Steven got a microphone and started talking.

"Hey. Is this thing on?" he asked, joking.

"No!" some little kid from the front joked back. We all quietly gathered around to hear what Steven had to say.

"As you all know, you are what we call the 'kiddie cast' of Hook," he started. This was followed by a bunch of cheering from the child audience. "Now, shooting starts on Monday. Not everyone is going to be in the first few scenes, but we think it would be a good idea if anyone wanted to come and watch the scenes being filmed. You can stand behind the camera if you want. Just wanted to make sure you knew that." Dante seemed thrilled about this. Charlie stayed very quiet right now (obviously). I noted this, as some other kids were whispering or quietly laughing, but he didn't make a sound.

"Now, since we are going to have a lot of children on set at one time, we needed a way to keep you all in check. We expect your best behavior, but if you do start misbehaving on set, you will get a red card. If you get one, we take five dollars off your paycheck, per card," he continued. All the whispering stopped and everyone was quiet at the mention of a paycheck. Steven smiled, sensing this. "Any questions?" Many kids raised their hands (but not Charlie and I, of course). Steven answered any of the questions the kids had. He didn't seem like a mean director, but I knew that all directors got up-tight when filming began. After Steven had answered all of the questions, he stood in a corner and waited for our parents to come get us. Well, now I decided to be more social. I walked up to Amber, who had made friends with just about everyone in the course of the last half hour or so.

"Oh! Guys!" she called. The boys all turned to look at her. "This is my friend, Callie!"

"Hi, Callie!" they all said. I smiled.

"I'm Jasen," one boy said.

"I'm Raushan," another one said.

"And I'm Isaiah!" said another, who seemed really hyped up. Amber laughed.

"Isaiah says he always has too much sugar when his mom isn't around," she told me. Then, Isaiah ran away. Thomas was standing there, too.

"Hi, Tom," I said.

"Hi, Callie," he mimicked.

"Wouldn't you rather be at home? Playing with toys?" I asked, thinking that a six year old would hate show business.

"Nope. I kept bugging my parents to take me to an audition. I really wanna be here. What's your excuse?" he asked. I laughed. For the first time that night, I was actually having fun. Weird, right?

**Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't updated in a while, but Hook came on this weekend and I had to write. Also, the last two chapters were just one long chapter, so I cut them in half. That's why you get two chapters at once. I'm working on the next chapter as you read this, so enjoy! I really like writing this story. It's different from any story I've ever done. **

**PS: I stole the red card idea from the set of Harry Potter. :P**


	4. Chapter 4

Finally! After two of the longest days of my entire life, it was Monday. Filming day! My first day on any set...ever. I promised myself I wouldn't act weird and star-stricken, even though I knew I totally would. I was so excited about everything. We went to the baseball field, where I was showed to my trailer (I got a trailer! AHH!) and they gave me a costume, which consisted of a black long sleeved tee-shirt, jeans, and a hat that Caroline, Amber, Charlie (when he wasn't wearing a helmet), and I all had to wear for this scene. My makeup and hair ladies put on some mascara and lip gloss. My hair was pulled back into a ponytail.

When we got out of our trailers, Charlie, Amber and I met at the bleachers. Amber looked cold (although we were in LA in the middle of summer) and Charlie was dressed like a real baseball player. I giggled.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing. You just look kinda dorky," I replied. He laughed, and so did Amber.

"Well, I feel kinda dorky," he said. "Are you excited?"

"Yup. Super excited!" I said, squealing a little and then calming myself. "I'm glad this scene is gonna be easy. We just have to cheer and stuff. I'm nervous about doing the scenes with lines," I said.

"You shouldn't be nervous. You practice more than I do," he said.

"How do you know?" I asked. He blushed. Then, Steven called out, saving Charlie from having to answer.

"Hello, everyone! Welcome to Jack's baseball game! Uh...I mean, Jack's FIRST Baseball Game!" he said. The crowd behind us laughed. Charlie went to stand with his 'team.' Amber and I stood next to Caroline, on the bleachers.

"Caroline! I got a new My Little Pony last night!" Amber said. Caroline gasped.

"Really? Did you bring her? I'd love to see her," Caroline said. Amber nodded.

"I can show her to you later," she replied, then turned to me. "Caroline _loves_ my little pony," she said.

"I only like collecting the dolls," she said. I laughed.

"I don't have any My Little Pony dolls anymore," I said. "I left them all at my dad's house."

"OOH! You can come to my hotel room and play with them sometime if you want!" Amber said.

"Okay," I said.

"ACTION!" Someone yelled. Amber and I started cheering.

"Jack! Jack! Jack!" we cheered. It felt kinda weird. As soon as the camera was turned on, we went from one person to another. It was almost kind of relieving. This is pretty much how the rest of the scenes went. Amber did a great job with her line.

"Dad'll be here. He promised," she said, taking a huge bite out of her hotdog. That's another thing I'd learned about her. She loves hotdogs. After that scene was finished shooting, she practically inhaled her hotdog. A few takes later, they were done shooting the crowd and had moved on to the field and the players.

"Callie?" Amber asked, really confused about something.

"Hmm?" I asked.

"If Charlie is supposed to miss the ball, how to we know if he is a good player or not?" she asked. I laughed. Out of all the things in the world she could be confused about, she chose this.

"I dunno. Maybe you should ask him later," I said.

"Well, what if he can't play?" she asked.

"Then he doesn't need to act for this scene," I said. She giggled. We watched as he practiced missing the ball a few times. When they yelled action again, he missed the ball ever so gracefully and looked just about as upset about it as I felt when I found out that our first day of filming was over. I couldn't wait to film more scenes at the end of the week. Our next filming day was on Thursday. We'd film the play scene (again, another scene where I don't have any lines). Before we went back into our trailers, Charlie, Amber and I met up yet again.

"How'd I do?" he asked.

"You lost the game," I said. He giggled.

"I don't really play baseball that much anymore," he said.

"I knew it!" Amber said.

"Hey, kids!" Robin said, walking up to us. Robin was there, watching, even though they weren't supposed to film his scene until later.

"Hi, Robin!" Amber said, giving him a big hug. He hugged her back. "Robin, are you going to yell at us? That's what my mommy said."

"I have to yell at you in the movie, but I won't yell at you in real life," he said. She smiled.

"I can yell, too! Wanna hear?" she said.

"Sure!" Robin said. Charlie and I exchanged glances, but didn't stick around to see what happened next. We had already heard Amber yell before and I still had nightmares. We went back in our trailers and I changed back into my normal clothes. I sat down with my tutor to get some schoolwork done. All performers under the age of 18 must have a tutor for at least three hours per day, and grades above a C in order to keep a child performer permit, which we need in order to work. My tutor's name is Cheryl.

"Just so you know, I don't do spoiled kids," she said as she walked into the room.

"Have fun with Amber," I said sarcastically.

"Amber isn't spoiled, she just has only-child syndrome," she said. I laughed. It was true. After I played school for a while, Cheryl gave me some workbooks to work on in my hotel room or even on set sometimes. She was really nice.

"I have to go tutor Charlie now, but if you have any questions about the schoolwork, your

mom has my phone number, so don't hesitate to call me," she said. I nodded. As she was walking out of the room, I noticed a book poking out of her bag that said, 'Algebra II.' _Wow. So Charlies' smart. Who knew?_ When Cheryl left, my mom emerged. She wasn't allowed around me during tutor time because I wasn't supposed to be distracted.

"How was it, movie star?" she asked.

"It was great," I said, knowing that she stood behind the camera and watched the whole time.

"So...What do you think about Charlie?" she asked, trying to sound casual, but I knew she was on the edge of her seat.

"Oh, we're going to get married, have twelve kids and live in a shoe," I said sarcastically. She smiled.

"Good thing you're in a movie, 'cause you're too over-dramatic for me to handle," she said. I laughed.

"But seriously, he's a nice kid," I said. "Kinda standoffish at first, but once you get to know him, he's really nice."

"Mmhm," she said, clearly thinking I meant something else.

"Mooooom!"

"Hey, I'm not implying anything," she said. I relaxed a bit, until she said, "I'm just saying that you should start looking at shoes to live in."


	5. Chapter 5

**Thursday**

"Callie! Wake up! You're going to be late to set!" Mom shook me awake. Crap! I overslept! I couldn't be late on my second day of shooting! I'd gotten used to sleeping in late, and it didn't help that I'd been out late last night, watching the mermaid scene being shot. Stephanie, Shannon and Regina (the mermaids) were really nice and took pictures with me while they were in their mermaid costumes. It was super cool! We sent the pictures to my dad, but he still hasn't responded. Oh well.

Now, I just grabbed my purse and ran out the door. I didn't worry about my PJ's. It didn't make a difference, as I'd only be changed later anyway. Mom and I jumped in the car that took us to set. Our chauffeur, Mark, drove really fast to set, which mom didn't like, but I really didn't want to be late. When we got there, Octavia, Lily and Uni (my costume/makeup/hair ladies) whisked me off. Instead of a trailer, I was taken to a large room (a dressing room for school plays in the high school we were filming at) where Amber, Caroline and I would all get ready together. Across the hall was another dressing room where Robin and Charlie were getting ready. When I arrived, Caroline greeted me and I noted a pink pony toy sitting in her lap.

"I hold the ponies when I'm nervous," she told me. "Stress reliever."

"You shouldn't be nervous. You're fabulous!" I said. She laughed and thanked me. Amber was sitting on the other side of the room, already in costume. Trinity tried to practice lines with her.

"Mom! I know, I know! We practiced last night! 'Boy, why are you crying? Blah blah blah!'" Amber exclaimed. Trinity sighed and closed the script. I took my costume (a dark blue long-sleeved shirt, blue jeans and boots) from Octavia and changed.

"Alright, sweetie. Let's get your bow in your hair and you'll be ready," one of Amber's appearance crew told her.

"I want Callie to tie it!" Amber exclaimed, taking the long, maroon ribbon and bringing it to where I was sitting. My hair was now being brushed, and blush was being added to my almost colorless face. I smiled and took the ribbon. She knelt down in front of my chair and I tied the ribbon in a bow around the half-up portion of her hair. She turned around and looked at me.

"Thank you," she said like a queen. I laughed.

"You look really cool in your costume," I told her. "Just like Wendy."

"I think it's a bit too long," Trinity intervened. I could see another one of Amber's team members (presumably the costume director) roll her eyes. I tried not to laugh. _So, Trinity is as much trouble as Amber is? Who knew? _I thought. I pursed my lips as Lily applied some pink lip gloss that smelled like bananas.

"Goodness! It's like you just rolled out of bed!" Uni exclaimed, still trying to tame my hair into a ponytail.

"I did," I mumbled. I heard Octavia snicker.

"I get to sleep on set!" Amber said.

"No, you don't, sweetie!" Trinity said.

"Well, it says when the play scene starts, I am laying in a bed! Same thing, mom!" she said back.

"Amber, honey, please don't really fall asleep!" Trinity said. Amber rolled her eyes.

"I'll do the best I can," she said, placing her left hand on her hip and examining the nails on her right hand. I giggled. _She definitely has the personality to be a movie star! _A few minutes later, we heard a knock at the door. When Lily opened it, she let in Steven, who told us it was time to go to the auditorium and shoot the scene. We got there before the rest of the extras and Amber and I played on the stage. She sat on the bed and told me it didn't feel soft.

"Of course not," I told her. "It's not supposed to be a real bed. Just a prop." She sighed at this. _She really wanted to sleep in this bed._ I looked to the seats in the auditorium and saw Charlie, standing awkwardly, watching us. Amber saw this, too, and motioned him towards us. He climbed up, onto the stage. He was holding a baseball, of course.

"Sup?" I asked.

"You look nice," he said. He was talking to Amber and I, but only looking at me. I smiled.

"You too," I replied. He wore a flannel shirt covered with a black sweater, beige pants and sneakers.

"Charlie!" Amber exclaimed. "My bed isn't real!" she said, pointing to the bed on the stage and acting as if this were a ground breaking news discovery. I could tell he was about to laugh, but then he decided to play along.

"Really? What an outrage."

"I know, right!" She said.

"Alright! We are gonna get started now!" We heard Steven say through a microphone that led his voice throughout the large room. "Audience, sit wherever, just please leave the designated seats open," he said, pointing to where Caroline, Robin, Charlie and I would sit. A bunch of people came in and sat down. Amber saw the plethora of people and suddenly got nervous.

"Amber!" I stage whispered. She looked at me, her eyes huge with fear. "Don't be nervous. It's not a real play. Just imagine them in their underwear," I told her. She looked back at the audience and started laughing at the image in her head.

"Charlie! Callie! I don't think you auditioned for the school play!" Steven joked through the microphone, seeing us on stage.

"We didn't audition for the play because we were auditioning for a movie, sir," I said. Steven laughed. We got down from the stage, leaving Amber with the kid who would be Peter Pan in the play. We sat in our seats with Robin and Caroline. Robin handed Charlie a baseball glove that he was supposed to sit in his lap, along with the baseball.

"Too bad you couldn't be in the play. Don't movies just ruin everything?" Robin joked.

"I _know_, right!" I said, sarcastically.

"I wanted to be Peter Pan!" Charlie said. We laughed.

"Everyone ready? Serious faces! Quiet!" Steven yelled. **(A/N: In show business, you don't really say, 'Lights, camera, action. Instead, you say…)** "Speed! Rolling! ACTION!"

We stopped laughing as the 'play' started. Someone played the piano and Peter Pan started crying.

"Boy, why are you crying?" Amber asked.

"I was crying 'cuz I couldn't get my shadow to stick. Besides, I wasn't crying."

In between takes, I messed with Charlie's hair.

"Haha! Now, you'll look stupid on camera!" I joked. He jokingly acted as if his world were now crumbling to the ground.

"I am nothing without good hair!" he exclaimed, desperately trying to fix it before the next take started. I could see my mom behind the cameras, watching. She gave me a thumbs up and I smiled and waved.

"Wow. You're lucky," Charlie said, still fixing his hair and seeing my mom. "My dad stayed back home in Minneapolis with my brothers, and my mom doesn't usually come to set. She's in the dressing room right now. She says it makes her uncomfortable to watch me call other people my parents."

"But you're only acting," I said. He sighed.

"My mom is a complicated person," he said.

"Mommy! Why do we have to leave LA? I don't want to! I want to stay here forever!" Amber whined back in the dressing room.

"Amber, sweetie, Culver isn't that far away from Los Angeles. Maybe we can come back and visit on one of the days you aren't shooting," Trinity told her. This mildly subsided Amber's attitude.

"Besides, Amber, the studio is in Culver. Don't you want to go to Neverland?" I asked.

"Studio?" she asked, changing into her normal clothes.

"Yeah! That's where Steven put the Neverland set!" I said. Her eyes lit up like this was the most miraculous thing she'd ever heard.

"NEVERLAND IS IN CALIFORNIA!" She yelled. "Yay!"

Once I had gotten my miniscule amount of makeup off and had changed back into my PJ's, I followed mom to the car and we were driven back to the hotel room.

"Mom," I said.

"Hmm?" she asked, checking her phone.

"Um… Is it gonna make you feel weird if I call Robin and Caroline my parents on camera?" I asked.

"No. Not at all, sweetie. After all, you're only acting, right?" she laughed it off.

"Yeah," I smiled. "Just acting." As the car pulled up to the hotel, mom and I got out and raced each other to the elevator, something my mom and I always did for fun. I won this time because she was wearing heels. When we were in the elevator, it was my mom's turn to talk.

"Have you heard from your father since we got here?" she asked.

"No," I said. It didn't really bother me that much. I was happy to be separated from him. But my mom, of course, wanted the opposite. She thought the least he could do was send me a text, which hadn't happened. I could see the anger in her face. I sighed. "Mom, it's not really a big deal. I don't really care. I think if he tries to contact me, it could ruin this experience, so it's better this way."

"I'm sorry, sweetie," she said, seeing right through me. When we got back to the hotel room, we were greeted by Cheryl.

"Get dressed," Cheryl said. "We're going on a field trip."


	6. Chapter 6

I did as I was told, getting changed from my pajamas to a bikini (Cheryl's instructions). I also put a purple tank top and booty shorts on. While I was getting changed, mom (who knew where I was going) packed a small bag. I had no idea where this 'field trip' was going to take place, but I hoped it wasn't going to be boring. I gave mom a good-bye kiss and walked through the hotel with Cheryl. When we got outside, we went around the hotel, something I had never done before. This confused me, as the only thing behind the hotel was the...beach…

"We're going to the beach?" I guessed, suddenly extremely excited. A smile played on Cheryl's face.

"Maybe…" she said. When we got to the boardwalk, we met Charlie and Amber.

"I thought we weren't supposed to study together," I said. We were supposed to be alone with Cheryl during tutoring hours so we weren't distracted.

"Callie, lighten up! This isn't a tutor session." Cheryl said. Amber jumped up and down, but Charlie and I just stood there, more confused than ever.

"YAY! NO SCHOOL! NO SCHOOL! NO SCHOOL!" Amber yelled.

"It's a good idea for you to have some fun with your family before we leave for Culver next week," she explained. Now Amber stopped jumping around and joined the confused bandwagon.

"But my mom is back in the hotel room," she said.

"Amber, I don't think she means our _family_, I think she means our family," I said, just as we approached the empty beach and saw none other than Caroline and Robin planted in the sand. Charlie sighed.

"I have homework to do," he said, turning back towards the hotel, but being stopped by Cheryl.

"You're excused from homework for the rest of the day," she said.

"How is this a field trip if it has nothing to do with school?" I asked. Cheryl shrugged.

"Steven's orders," she replied. _Of course._ The beach had been closed down that day just for us, courtesy of Steven. Amber was the first person to dart to Caroline and Robin. Amber opened her beach bag and revealed (who would've guessed) a pony. Caroline laughed and pulled her own pony out of her beach bag. I giggled.

"Cute ponies," I said. I admired Caroline for liking ponies even though she was a grown woman. There's a child in everyone.

"You really like it?" Caroline asked, examining her doll. I nodded. "You can keep it." She handed it to me. My eyes widened.

"Seriously?" I asked. She nodded. I took it and stroked it's mane. Suddenly, I felt my inner child breaking out as I giggled giddily at the adorable pony in my hands. Caroline smiled, sensing my joy. Amber and I played with the ponies for a while, but then set them down on the beach blanket and raced each other to the water. I sprayed Amber a few times and she splashed me back.

When we were all wet, we decided to build a sand castle for our ponies to live in when I noticed Charlie laying on the sand. He must have been tired because he seemed asleep, even under the violently hot rays of sun splashing down upon us. I even snapped my fingers in front of his face a few times. No response. Then, a devilish smile spread across my face as I got a brilliant idea.

I strolled back over to the beach blanket and grabbed the bucket. I whispered my plan into Amber's ear. She giggled, took the bucket and filled it with water. Can you guess where this is going? She came back with the full bucket. Caroline was tanning, but Robin was watching us with complete fascination. I pointed to the bucket, and then to Charlie. Robin smiled and gave the thumbs up. I walked over to Charlie with the bucket. Amber counted down on her fingers. 3...2...1...SPLASH! The freezing water hit Charlie from every angle. He sat up quickly and when he saw me holding the (now empty) bucket over him, he flipped.

"I...am...gonna...get...you…" he said, shivering. I screamed and dropped the bucket just before he reached to grab me. I ran as fast as I could and he chased me. Robin and Amber were now laughing wildly. I ran to the water and got about knee-deep when Charlie caught me and pushed me. I fell in slow motion and landed with a huge splash in the ocean. When I stood up again, he was laughing his head off.

"Haha, very funny," I said sarcastically, although I couldn't stay mad for long. I splashed him and he splashed back. Soon, we were in a full-on splash war. Amber had joined in along the way and Robin stepped in to help Charlie. In the end, Amber and I won the splash fight, but it didn't make a difference. We were all cold and wet, but we had a great time, and that's what matters. Caroline gave us each and towel when we returned to the sand and we watched the sun set on the horizon.

"Callie," Amber whispered.

"Hmm?"

"Are you and Charlie...a thing?" she asked. I almost burst out laughing, but I was able to contain myself. I was about to say no when Charlie (who had heard, even though Amber had whispered) answered for me.

"Yup," he said sarcastically. "We are a thing. We love each other with all our hearts and wanna get married and _kisssssssss_," he said, dragging out the 'kiss' as Amber made a face.

"Ew," she said. "Cooties."

After that, mom, Trinity and Deb (Charlie's mom) came to walk us back to the hotel rooms. They'd apparently been hanging out since we left and had gone out to dinner for a 'girls night out.' The grown-ups talked for a bit and Charlie, Amber and I kinda hung back awkwardly. They talked for about ten minutes.

"Have you practiced your lines today, Cal?" My mom asked. I shook my head.

"Haven't had much time," I replied. "I will tomorrow, though."

"That's quite alright. Charlie hasn't been practicing at all," Deb said. "He prefers books over scripts."

"Moooom!" he complained.

"Don't start, Charles," she said.

"I hate it when she calls me that," he told me, blushing.

"Don't start, Charles," I said, quietly mimicking his mother's strict tone. He laughed.

"I always practice! Mommy says practice makes perfect!" Amber said.

"It's good to practice, Am. Then you won't forget your lines," said Robin, giving her a high-five.

"Oh, I _never_ forget _anything._ Except my homework," Amber replied, earning a laugh from Caroline and a glare from Cheryl.

"You're in trouble, missy," Cheryl joked.

"So, did you kids have fun today?" Trinity asked.

"Yes!" Amber said. "Callie dumped water on Charlie and we played with My Little Ponies and we had a splash fight and…" the list went on. I was about to tune her out when I heard her say something no one expected. "Charlie said he loves Callie."

"Really?" Deb asked, glancing at him. He now seemed really nervous.

"Mmhm. With all his heart," Amber continued. I sent her the loudest telepathic messages I could (_Amber! Shhhh!_) but, of course, she wasn't getting them because she kept going. "And he said he wanted to marry her and kisssssssss her."

Now, Charlie face-palmed himself. Robin was two minutes away from peeing himself, laughing, Deb looked really suprised at Charlie, and my mom had a look on her face that just said, 'I knew it.'

I blushed and grabbed my beach bag. I took the My Little Pony that Caroline gave me (which Amber had named Maggie, no explanation needed) and shoved it in my bag as fast as I could. Now, I only wanted to get away from the beach. I was so embarrassed. As I was trying to find somewhere (anywhere) to place my water bottle in my beach bag, mom approached.

"He was joking," I said.

"Mmhm," my mom said, not buying it.

"He was!" I replied. Now, I just jammed the water bottle in, not wanting to talk about this anymore. I grabbed my mom's hand and we rushed off the beach. My mom waved to Cheryl, Caroline and Trinity as we left, but I didn't stay long enough to say goodbye to anyone. I did, however, notice that Charlie and Deb had left before us, weirdly enough. When we were in the hotel, my mom stopped me.

"Slow down! Your flip flops are gonna leave skid marks on the floor if you go any faster!"

"Sorry," I said, walking.

"You don't have to be embarrassed. I think it's cute that he likes you."

"Mom...He doesn't like me. He was kidding," I said. But that sentence was quickly brought back into questioning when we encountered Charlie and Deb on the way to the elevator. They didn't see us behind them, of course, because if they saw us, I'm sure Deb wouldn't have said:

"I still can't believe you admitted it."

Needless to say, I hid behind a potted plant as we waited for the next elevator (I didn't want Charlie to know I'd heard) and my mom laughed harder than I'd ever heard her laugh before.

**A/N: This isn't like any of the other chapters. I wanted you to see what the cast is like when they aren't on set and when they are having fun. So, what do you think? Challie is in motion! More to come tonight!**


	7. Chapter 7

I had managed to avoid Charlie all weekend, until Monday...the day we had to move. Mom and I were in a convenient store, getting shampoo, when we saw Deb. Now, they hadn't seen us, so we could have just walked away, not having to deal with it. But my mother, being the woman that she is, decided to say hi. Words cannot describe how against this I was.

"Mom, no, please don't, I'm begging you-"

"Deb! Hi! How are you!"

Immediate mental face palm.

"Jessica! Hello! What a coincidence," Deb replied. Charlie smiled when he saw me. Bad sign. He walked over to me and I pretended to be interested in whatever was closest to me, which, unfortunately, was a box of Tampax Super Absorbent Pads.

"Hi," he said, probably creeped out that I was so absorbed in the...absorbent disposable female appliances. Well, no avoiding him now. I put the box down.

"Charlie! Hi!" I said, as if I hadn't noticed him before this very moment.

"What's up?" he asked, meaning this generally, of course, but me, being the idiot that I am, assumed he meant with my attitude. I'd been acting different in the past ten seconds we'd been talking to each other.

"Up? Up? Nothings' up! The sky is up," I said, talking fast. He nodded. _Stupid, stupid, stupid, Callie! The sky? That's the best you can come up with? THE SKY!?_

"Excited to move to Culver today?" he asked, making conversation.

"Um...yeah," I said, calming down. _He doesn't know you heard. Maybe Deb was talking about something else. You don't know. Maybe he doesn't like you._

"Cool. So, do you, um...wanna sit next to me on the bus?" he asked. _Oh, God. Mayday. He likes me. He likes me. No. He doesn't like me. He LOVES me. Not that I'm surprised, I mean, I am pretty fabulous, but still. He. Likes. Me. _As all of this was going through my head, I suddenly realized that about five second had passed and I still hadn't answered him.

"Um...sure," I said. He smiled.

"Great," he said.

"Charles! Let's go. We have to finish packing," Deb said. He followed her out of the store and waved to me just as he disappeared from view.

"Whyyy?!" I groaned. "Why did you have to do that?"

"Cal, calm down. So what if he likes you? It's nothing to be embarrassed about. I'd be flattered if a movie star liked me," she replied.

"He's not a movie star. He's just been in a few movies."

After packing the very little luggage that I'd bothered to unpack in the last two weeks, I put my suitcase in what we called 'the luggage car.' I climbed into the bus and sat down next to Charlie. The bus was huge. It was like a tour bus, with a bathroom and beds. There was a little common area where everyone would sit for the 45 minute drive to Culver. There wasn't any proper seats, but there were some couches attached to the bus with seat belts. Mom liked it.. Deb didn't really care, as long as Charlie had a seatbelt on. Trinity wasn't having it.

"I could just drive Amber myself in my own car," she told the chauffeur, trying to exit the bus.

"Mrs. Scott, your car, along with Mrs. Korsmo and Ms. Holden's car, have been in Culver since last night," the chauffeur said. Trinity, with a heavy heart, sat down, put on a seat belt and pulled it so tight, I was surprised she could still breathe. Deb and mom sat across from Charlie, Amber and I. Trinity sat behind the chauffeur. When we started moving, Amber wiggled out of her seat and started roaming around the bus.

"Amber, honey, please get back in your seat and put your seatbelt on," Trinity said.

"Mom, I'm being a ballerina now," Amber said, dancing around the bus. My mom slept quietly next to Deb, who was reading a magazine about corporate finances.

"Sweetie, if you don't sit down and we get into an accident…" she stopped herself. "I think I'm gonna be sick." She stood up and ran to the bathroom, shutting the door behind her. Amber rolled her eyes.

"She does that all the time if she isn't driving. She can be a control freak sometimes, but it's okay. She probably won't come out until the trip is over," Amber said. I unbuckled my seatbelt and slid off of my seat and onto the floor of the bus, sitting next to Amber. I took my pony out of my purse. Amber frowned. "I don't have mine. She's in my suitcase."

"Here," I said, handing her the pony and a brush. "You can braid her hair." She smiled, taking Maggie-Pony and brushing her hair. I was watching when I heard my phone ding. I turned it on and saw a new text message from dad.

Hey, sweetie! Sorry. Got a little caught up with work this week. Hope ur having a gr8 day. Can't w8 2 c u.

I sighed and texted back. A little caught up with work. Sure.

Hi dad. I miss u. I can't wait 2 come home. Maybe we can video chat sometime this week? :3

Sent. Delivered. Read. No response. Typical. I turned my phone off. It's not that I was expecting anything back. He's always so busy with everything else, I'm lucky I even got a message. When Amber was done braiding, I handed her an elastic to tie the plastic rainbow hair in place. Suddenly, I remembered Charlie was there. He sat quietly, reading a science book. I giggled. He looked up and saw that I was laughing at him.

"What's so funny?" he asked.

"You're smart," I said.

"Yeah, I noticed," he said. Now, Amber laughed, which wasn't a surprise, as she was always laughing.

"No, I mean, like… you know stuff! Like, more stuff than me!" I said, sounding stupid, but he got what I was saying. We'd been laughing quite loud, so now my mom was wide awake.

"Wow, I wish you knew stuff," Mom joked to me.

"I do know stuff!" I defended.

"Oh, yeah?" Amber asked. "What's nine plus ten?"

"Nineteen," I said.

"TWENTY-ONE!" Amber yelled.

"What comes after twenty-one, Amber?" I asked.

"Twenty-two," she said, not getting the joke until I whipped out my phone and started playing the Taylor Swift song. Before I knew it, the chauffeur had taken my phone and plugged it into the speaker system, so the song played throughout the bus.

"I DON'T KNOW ABOUT YOU, BUT I'M FEELIN' TWENTY-TWO! EVERYTHING WILL BE ALRIGHT IF YOU KEEP ME NEXT TO YOU! YOU DON'T KNOW ABOUT ME, BUT I'LL BET YOU WANT TO! EVERYTHING WILL BE ALRIGHT IF WE JUST KEEP DANCIN' LIKE WE'RE TWENTY-TWO!" We yelled. Charlie laughed, shaking his head as we skipped around the bus, screaming the song at the top of our voices. When the song finally ended, my vocal cords hurt. Amber and I decided to stop singing, as we were giving my mom a headache. Next, Style by Taylor Swift came on. I think it's pretty evident that I like Taylor Swift by now. So, as the song played, I could only think of one thing.

"'...Could end in burning flames or paradise. Fade into view, oh, it's been awhile since I have even heard from you...heard from you,'" Taylor sang. "'Cuz you got that James Dean daydream look in your eye, and I got that red lip classic thing that you like...'" Now I was vigorously rubbing off my red lipgloss. My mom sat in the corner, the biggest smile on her face. I crossed my fingers that she wouldn't let a laugh spill out. My mom is the kind of person that can't stop laughing once she starts. _Keep it in, mom. Please don't…_ Charlie pulled a jacket around his white tee-shirt and I put a blanket on my legs to cover my mini-skirt. What an unfortunate series of events. But what happened next was even worse, as Amber, being a young child, said what no one else wanted to say.

"This song sounds like it's about you two!" she said, pointing to Charlie and I. We looked at each other and I started laughing.

"What? Why would it be about us?" I asked.

"Because you're in _loooooooove_," she teased. Now, I quickly stood up and changed the song on my phone. I randomly chose another song and put my phone down before I could see what song it was.

You Belong With Me by (suprise, suprise) Taylor Swift. I sighed. This was going to be a long, awkward ride.

When we got to the new hotel, we met with the other kids in the movie, who had been here since the first week of filming, since Steven didn't need the Lost Boys for the first few scenes that we shot. We were told that shooting would start again on Friday because Steven would shoot the outside of a Pan AM plane (for before the plane scene) tomorrow, and he had to watch fencing practices with Robin and Dustin to make sure he liked the stuff they'd be doing in movie.

My room was between Charlie and Amber's rooms and it was even bigger than the last hotel room we had, which was good, considering we'd be staying there for the next eleven months. Mom and I had separate rooms again, but had to share a bathroom this time. At least this time, I had my own room key. After we got our luggage, I unpacked everything and chilled out. Culver was different than LA, but it was a good different. When Cheryl came over that night, she wanted to talk about more than math.

"So, I heard you like Charlie," she said.

"Why does everyone bring that up?" I asked, annoyed. "And I don't like him. He likes me."

"Alright, no need to get all defensive about it. Just asking," she said. "But still. He is _so_ your type."

"He's smart."

"So?"

"I'm not smart," I said.

"Judging by your last math test, I'd say you're pretty smart," she said.

"He's been in movies."

"You're in a movie," she replied.

"He...oh, whatever!" I said. She laughed, victoriously ending this argument. "I'm NOT gonna go out with him or anything."  
"You say that now. You just wait, honey. You're gonna be stuck with the same people around you for so long, you won't remember what a boy from the outside world looks like."  
"Cheryl, it's a movie, not a prison," I said. She laughed.

"I know, but...multiply that by the fraction...you just wait and see. You might actually come to know him a little better," she said. I focused on the math portion of that sentence.

"Okay, let's get to know him a little better. What is he studying right now?" I asked. Silence. "Hmm?"

"I'm not supposed to-"

"Oh, Cheryl, come on. It's in the name of love!" I said, a bit too over dramatically. She rolled her eyes.

"Okay. He's studying algebra two, Shakespeare, and biological sciences," she said. Now, I was quiet.

"I can't believe it. He's smarter than I thought. He's a college student. He's Einstein. He's a frickin' genius," I said.

"Please. He's thirteen. Now, can we please get back to-"

"HE. IS. SMART." I said. She rolled her eyes again.

"What have I just unleashed?" she asked herself.

"But he doesn't seem smart. He seems normal…" I said, piecing this together in my mind.

_Ding!_ The timer went off, signaling the end of our tutoring session. She sighed, packing her books.

"Don't forget to do your homework," she said, leaving. She went to Amber's room next, so I decided to talk to Mr. Smart himself. I knocked on his hotel door and he answered.

"Didn't your mom ever tell you not to answer the door to a stranger?" I asked.

"You aren't a stranger," he said.

"Yeah, but I'm strange," I replied. His room was separated from his mom's, like mine, and the door between their rooms was shut. Curiouser and curiouser…

"What's up?" he asked. "Besides the sky." I blushed and cursed myself again for saying that. _Stupid, stupid, stupid._

"Not much." I said. I couldn't hold it in anymore, so I just burst and asked the question I'd been dying to know the answer to. "Why are you smart?" _Stupid, stupid, stupid. _

"Um...what?" he asked. I'd caught him off guard.

"You…" he nodded. "Are…" more nodding. "Smart. Why didn't you tell me?"

"Hi, I'm Charlie. I'm smart."

"You know things, and stuff and ahh! I wasn't expecting that…"

"So, you thought I was dumb?"

"Well, not dumb, but...I didn't think you would be doing Algebra II and stuff," I said.

"How'd you know I was doing Algebra II?"

"Cheryl was...and I was...and I just...that's an off topic question!" I said, getting flustered. He laughed.

"That's cute," he mumbled.

"What?" I asked.

"What?" he asked.

"What?" we both said at the same time. I blushed. He blushed. Oh no.


	8. Chapter 8

"Did you know that the Grand Canyon can hold over 900 trillion footballs?" I asked.

"Really?" Charlie asked. I nodded.

"Did you know that I have to go to the bathroom?" Amber asked. I sighed.

"Lets go," I told her, taking her to the ladies' room for the third time that day.

"I'm nervous!" she told me. "I actually have to say stuff, and yell at Dustin and he looks scary!"

"Amber, listen. When the camera turn on, you aren't Amber anymore. You're Maggie. What would Maggie do?" I asked.

"Yell at Dustin?" she asked.

"No, she'd yell at _Hook_."

"There's a difference?" she asked. I nodded.

"Yes, there's a difference. Think of the camera as a magic wand. When it turns on, you are someone else. Everyone around you is someone else. Dustin is Hook, Charlie is Jack and I am Hartlyn."

"But I don't know Hook, Jack and Hartlyn," she said, getting nervous.

"Amber doesn't know them, but Maggie does," I said. "And Maggie is FURIOUS at Hook for kidnapping her and her siblings and wants to go home! Let me hear you yell out there, okay?"

"Okay! Lets go YELL!" She said. I was happy. Yelling is something Amber is good at. When we got back to set, we started filming. We'd film the second part of the scene today, and the first part tomorrow. I noted Dante standing behind the camera. Even though he wasn't going to be filmed today, he was still here. Dustin came out of the dressing room in his wig and I almost fell on the floor, laughing. He looked so different.

"Careful, Hartlyn," he said, method acting (**A/N: Method Acting: When an actor/actress stays in character, even when the camera is turned off**). "Laughter brings misery." That is _so_ something Hook would say.

"ACTION!" Steven yelled.

"No, child, I think your mother reads to you every night in order to stupefy you to sleep… So that she and daddy can sit down for three measly minutes without you, and your mindless, inexhaustible, unstoppable, repetitive and nagging demands. 'He took my toy, she hit my bear, I want a potty, I want a cookie, I want to stay up. I want, I want, I want. Me, me, me, me. Mine, mine, mine, mine. Now, now, now! Can't you understand, child. They tell you stories to shut you up," Dustin said.

"And conk you out," Bob (Smee) added.

"That's not true, Jack. You're a liar!" Amber said.

"Cut!" Steven yelled. "Amber, you need to yell louder, okay?" We tried again, but she still didn't yell loud enough. "Callie, Charlie, come here." We walked over to Steven. "Can you kids say anything to make Amber yell loud enough?" he asked. I smiled.

"I know just what to say," I said. I stood behind the camera, and Steven yelled, 'Action.' "Amber," I said, standing behind the camera. "I heard Dustin stole your My Little Pony, but he told me he didn't take it. What do you want to say to him?" She turned and looked at Dustin.

"YOU'RE A LIAR!" she yelled. Steven smiled.

"CUT! I think we got it," he said. "Good job, Callie." He gave me a high five. I got back in my desk and we resumed the scene.

"ACTION!"

"Lie? Me? Never. The truth is far too much fun!"

A few takes later, Bob carried Amber off and she stood behind the camera to watch the last few takes before we wrapped (**A/N: Wrapped= Finished filming**) for the day.

"Hartlyn, Jack, you're home here, right?" Hook asked. I shook my head.

"No. Maggie's right. Dad will save us. I know he will," I said.

"Dad isn't Peter Pan, Hartlyn! Do you want to die just 'cuz dad can't save us?" Jack asked.

"No…" I said, weighing my options and deciding my best bet was with Hook.

"CUT!" Steven yelled. I high fived Charlie.

"You were awesome," he said.

"Thanks. So were you," I blushed.

"But I was the best! YOU'RE A LIAR! YOU'RE A LIAR! YOU'RE A LIAR!" Amber yelled, running up to us.

"You _were_ the best," I told her. She smiled.

"I know," She said, then ran off to the snack table and scarfed down two brownies and a cupcake.

**A/N: I'm so so so so so so sorry this chapter is so short. The next one will be a LOT longer, I promise! I'm also sorry I haven't updated in a while. I have finals and a lot of end-of-the-year projects, so I probably won't update the way I used to until the end of June, when school ends, but I'll try to post whenever I can. I'm also working on a new story! Stay tuned! :)**


	9. Chapter 9

A few days later, Steven was shooting a scene with the Lost Boys. During break time, the boys get to play around the set (Neverland) and do whatever they want. Today, I was going to attend shooting and play with the boys during their break, but…

"Callie! Honey, could you please do me a favor?" Mom asked.

"What?" I groaned.

"Well, I'm supposed to go out with Trinity tonight, but Amber is sick. Can you please babysit her?" she asked.

"Mom! I'm supposed to go to shooting today," I said.

"Sweetie, there will be plenty more scenes. Relax. I only need you to watch her for a few hours while we go shopping and-"

"_Hours_?!" I said. I flopped on my bed as she put on her earrings and peered into the mirror. She fixed some fly-aways and went back to our conversation.

"Don't be dramatic, Cal. Please? You love Amber. Just hang out with her. Watch a movie or something. Play a game. Maybe Charlie can come over and hang for a while. I'll leave you some money so if you girls want to order room service, you may."

I grumbled a, 'thank you,' (I was angry, not rude) and she kissed the top of my head.

"Be ready in five," she said, going back into her room. I grabbed my phone charger, my phone, my iPad, a book and my room key (in case I needed to come back for anything) and stuffed it all in a bag. A few minutes later, I stood in front of Amber's hotel room door, knocking, my mom behind me. When it opened, a shrill voice (Trinity's) flooded the hallway and we were pulled into the room.

"Oh, Jess, it's so good to see you!" Trinity said as if they hadn't seen each other in forever.

"You too, Trin!" my mom said and they hugged. '_Jess and Trin? So they have nicknames for each other now?_'

"Thank you so much for babysitting tonight, Callie," Trinity said.

"I'm NOT a baby!" Amber shouted from the other room.

"Amber-sitting," Trinity corrected herself. I smiled.

"It's no trouble, Miss. Scott. Amber is like my little sister," I said. They both smiled. My mom handed me the room serivce money and they left.

"We'll be back around ten," my mom said before shutting the door awfully quickly, knowing I'd freak out but giving me no time. I sighed. '_What am I supposed to do to keep her busy until TEN?!_' I thought to myself, looked at my phone, which read 6:30 PM.

"Amber! Where are you?" I called, walking into her bedroom.

"In here!" I heard her voice from the room I'd just walked out of. I rolled my eyes. '_Not again. Please, not again!_' Luckily, when I walked back into the living room, she was sitting on the couch.

"How do you do that?" I asked.

"Do what?" she asked back.

"Nevermind," I said.

"I wanted to go to the shooting today, but my mom said no because she was going out with your mom," she told me.

"I wanted to go, too," I said, sitting on the couch next to her.

"I was gonna go see my boyfriend, Tom," she said. I laughed. "What's so funny?."

"Nothing, nothing," I said, still giggling. "I just thought Charlie was your boyfriend." I remembered her skipping in a circle and announcing it a few weeks ago, when we first met.

"No, he's not. He's yours," she said. I stopped laughing.

"No, he isn't," I said, blushing. Unfortunately, she saw this and smiled.

"Don't worry. I get it. Thomas and I have the same sort of relationship," she said.

"What kind of relationship would that be?" I asked, picturing him proposing to her with a ring he got from a gumball machine outside a gas station.

"A secret relationship. I keep it a secret...from him…" she said. This sent me into fits of raging laughter that I couldn't control. Soon, she started laughing, too. Once we were able to control ourselves, I spoke again.

"Charlie and I don't have a secret relationship. We don't have have a relationship. We're just friends," I told her.

"Ooh…" she said. "He just got friendzoned. He owes me five bucks." She stood up from the couch and ran out of the hotel room. I chased after her. '_I really gotta learn to lock that door so she can't get out!_' She ran right up to Charlie's door. I stopped in my tracks. She looked at me, knowing what I was thinking and shooting me a threatening glance. She held her fist to the door.

"Don't you dare!" I mouthed.

"Oh, I dare!" she mouthed back, knocking. I facepalmed. The door opened.

"What's up, Amber?" Charlie asked.

"You owe me five bucks," she said.

"Why? Did she really say-"

"Amber!" I said, cutting him off. He seemed surprised to see me, but the color soon returned back to his face. "Sorry. I'm babysitting. You know how she is," I said. He nodded. I grabbed her arm and walked her back to the hotel room. "You're gonna get it," I mumbled. I could sense him staring at us (me) until we were back inside the room and the door was shut.

"Hey! That's not fair! I didn't get my money!" she said.

"He made a bet with you?" I asked. "About me!? And you didn't tell me?"

"He told me not to tell you," she said. "In his defense, he did say to wait a little while longer and you'll be madly in love with him."

"He really said that?" I asked.

"Well, not exactly, but he did say to wait, and I did. I waited a whole two _days_!" she said. "That's the longest I've ever waited for anything in my entire _life_!"

"Okay, can we just forget about it please? I am NOT going out with him and I probably never will. It's not that I don't want to, it's just that...I don't know!" I said. I knew I didn't owe her an explanation, but I felt like I owed myself one. I sat on the couch and put my head in my hands. She sat next to me and put a hand on my shoulder.

"Can we just get some food?" she asked in a soothing tone. I laughed. She always knew what to say.

"Sure. Let me just call the front desk. What do you want?" I asked. She frowned.

"How about we take a night out? Like our mommies!" she said. "We can be sophisticated grown-ups."

"Amber," I groaned. "I don't think we should be leaving the room." But by now, she was already in her closet, choosing something to wear. I sighed and went back to my room, leaving my phone in Amber's room (big mistake) and chose a blue dress from my mom's closet. When I got back to the room, Amber had on a dress, makeup and heels.

"Can you do my hair?" she asked. I sighed and wiped the makeup off with baby wipes. I curled her hair (and mine) and found some better shoes for her to wear. I didn't want her to break her ankle. Mom, Trinity and Steven would kill me. Amber insisted I put on some mascara and lip gloss. "My mom has the perfect pair of shoes! They'd go with your dress perfectly!" She ran into her mom's room and came back with a pair of blue heels...at least 6 inches.

"No way!" I said. She nodded. I looked at them. They were pretty cute and matched the color of the dress perfectly. '_Oh, what the heck! YOLO!_' I thought, as I slipped the shoes on. Hopefully, Trinity wouldn't mind. When we got outside, we met (surprise, surprise) Charlie, who was in a tux. I gave Amber a look that said, 'You didn't,' and she nodded, smiling. I checked my phone, and sure enough, she had texted Charlie, asking him to come to dinner with us. We went through the elevator to the bottom floor, where all of the restaurants were. Unfortunately, Amber was distracted by the blinking lights of the casino and followed them.

"Amber, no!" Charlie said. "Come here! The casino is only for adults. If you go in there, we'll all get in trouble." But, of course, she didn't listen, so we had to go chase her. Finally, I caught up to her and grabbed her arm.

"No," I said.

"That word isn't in my vocabulary," she said, pulling her arm free and running out of sight.

"Holy crap. What are we gonna do!? If I can't catch her before my mom comes back, I'm in big trouble. What if she gets lost or kidnapped or abducted by aliens!?" I asked. I sense Charlie holding in a laugh.

"She'll be fine," he said. "Come on. I'm sure we can find her." We ran through the casino (avoiding stationed police officers) and through every restaurant we could find. We were about to give up and call my mom when my cell phone started buzzing. A call from an unknown number.

"Hello?" I asked, ready to hang up in case it was a telemarketer or something.

"Hi, is this Callie?" a woman's voice asked.

"Yes…" I said.

"This is Amanda Tulak, Tommy's mom. Amber showed up at my hotel room and said she'd run away from you kids," she explained. I breathed a sigh of relief and told Charlie where she was. He leaned against a wall as I talked to Amanda. She told me her room number and we set off on our great adventure to find Amber once again.

"Amber! Why did you run away from us!? You scared me half to death!" I said, hugging her.

"Which half of you is dead?" she asked, and I couldn't help but laugh.

"Thank you for calling me, Mrs. Tulak," I said. She smiled.

"No problem. This little one, though," she said, referencing to Amber, " was being quite...difficult. She wouldn't give me your cell phone number, so I had to call her mom, who told your mom. Your mother gave me your number and I called you. They're on their way here now, by the way," she said. My mouth dropped open. Mrs. Tulak went to tuck Tom into bed, leaving Charlie, Amber and I in the living room for a few moments.

"I am so dead," I said.

"I'm gonna put on a movie," Amber said. She switched through the channels and settled on the Arsenio Hall show. Wouldn't you know it, the surprise guest was the brilliant child star, Charlie Korsmo. I crossed my arms and looked at him. He blushed and turned the TV off, just as my mom burst into the room.

"AMBER!" Trinity called, running in and squeezing her daughter so hard, I thought Amber would pop. I took off the shoes and kicked them under the couch before anyone could see.

"Callie! What happened!? You were supposed to be watching her! Why are you wearing my dress? You are grounded for eterni- Oh hi, Charlie!" I couldn't believe it. The second she saw him, her face brightened up like the sun. '_This boy is magic or something,_' I thought.

"Hi, Jess," He said.

"So, you're on a first name basis with my mom, now?" I asked. He smiled. '_How did that happen?_' Trinity and mom thanked Mrs. Tulak and we all walked down the hall together, Charlie following slowly behind.

"What was that? You just stopped yelling mid-sentence. That's not like you," I whispered so no one would hear.

"I know. I just didn't wanna embarrass you in front of your BOYFRIEND," she said. Charlie may have been behind a few steps, but I knew he had heard her and I felt his eyes on me. My cheeks burned. '_So much for not embarrassing me, mom._'

**A/N: New chapter coming TONIGHT. It's a super long one. Stay tuned! Thanks for the favorites, reviews, etc. Keep them coming! 333**


	10. Chapter 10

"Hello?" I heard my mom answer the phone. I looked at the clock on my nightstand. Who's calling at three in the morning? I heard her yawn. "Okay, we'll be there as soon as possible." She hung up and came into my room. "Callie, are you awake?"

"Yeah," I said. "Who was that?"

"Steven. He said he had some cool news that he wanted to share with the whole cast right now, so we all have to meet at the Neverland-set-place," she said, her mind still foggy with sleep. She grabbed her purse. "Let's go," she said.

"In our PJ's?" I asked.

"Yup. Come on. The faster we get there, the faster we can get back here and go back to sleep."

I shrugged. Can't argue with that logic. I grabbed my phone, a pillow and my bunny slippers and followed her. The lobby of the hotel was creepily empty, not that I expected it to be full this early in the morning. I saw Trinity carrying a sleeping Amber to her limo as we got into ours. I fell asleep on the way to the studio. '_Why couldn't Steven just wait until tomorrow?_' When we got there, I put my pillow against a studio wall and slept until everyone arrived. I think Robin and Dustin knew what the news was because they were smiling. The only people that weren't there were the extra pirates and lost boys that didn't have any lines, the mermaids, and Julia, of course.

"Now, most of you may know," Steven started talking. His voice was tired but excited. Super excited. Something was going on. "That I think that movie-making is like a learning experience for everyone involved, and with all of the kids around, I figured we should take a field trip." He scanned the crowd of kids. "Callie!" he said, motioning me towards him. I stood next to him, in front of all of my castmates. "Answer this million-dollar question for me, and the whole cast will get a special prize. Where does the Banning family go on vacation?"

"London," I said. Duh.

"Correct! Robin, tell the lovely lady what she's won!" Steven said. '_I thought I was in a movie, not on a game show._'

"Well, Steven, Callie has just won herself, along with the entire cast of Hook, a trip to LONDON, ENGLAND!" Robin announced. There was a symphony of gasps and chatter amongst the crowed. I could feel my eyebrows fly up in surprise. I gave Steven a, '_No way! Really?_' look. He smiled and nodded.

"Kids, make sure you thank Steven for putting this trip together!" Dustin reminded us. We all ran up to him and hugged him at the same time (and since there was a lot of us, it was enough to almost knock him over, but he didn't mind). When we were done, we were dismissed, but some of us stayed for a few minutes afterwards to talk.

"Callie Callie CALLIE!" Amber came running up to me. "You answered the question right! Great job!" She said, sticking a gold star sticker on my pajama pants and running off, giggling. Trinity ran up to me.

"Sorry. She got a new pad of stickers and she's sticking them everywhere," she said, out of breath. She ran off to get Amber. Mom walked up to me with a giant smile on her face.

"Wow! How fun!" she said. "Can't wait!"

"Jess, can I talk to you for a second? I have some script changes for Callie. I just wanted to run them by you first," Steven said. He led her away and I went up to Charlie, who was standing all by himself (again).

"Excited?" I asked. He nodded. "You don't talk much on set, do you?"

"If I can help it," he said. I laughed. "Well, at least I'm not like Amber. 'Look at my pony! I like kittens! I love cupcakes!'" he said, impersonating her. I giggled more.

"And you do a great job at...standing there, Charlie! You get a sticker, too!" she said, running by and sticking another star on his pants.

"Thanks, squirt," he said. She ran off again when she saw Trinity coming for her.

"Oh, so you have new nicknames for everyone now? Amber is Squirt and my mom is Jess," I said.

"Your mom's _name_ is Jess," he said. "I just happen to call her that."

"What do you call me?" I asked.

"I know what you call me," he said, crossing his arms and changing the subject.

"What do I call you?" I mused.

"Your _boyfriend_," he said.

"My mom only said that to embarrass me," I said. I felt my cheeks turning red

"I know, but I could be your boyfriend if I wanted to. I just have to use some of my Charlie Charm," he said. I laughed.

"What's Charlie Charm?" I asked. He flipped his hair and smiled, and it was really, really, really cute, but I'd never admit that to him.

"Anyway, I think I'll have to get back to you on that nickname thing. I'm gonna make it special. Like, an inside joke or something," he said. I smiled. '_I'm special._'

After we got back to the hotel room, we went back to sleep and less than forty-eight hours later, the whole cast was on a private jet to London. When we got there, Steven took Amber, Charlie and I for a walk around town. More 'family bonding time,' like we did in LA, except Robin and Caroline weren't there. It was just the Banning children this time.

"Still feeling jet lagged, Callie?" Steven asked. He had to wear sunglasses and a hoodie so he wouldn't be recognised. I nodded. He laughed. "Don't worry. We'll be here for two weeks. You'll get used to the different timezone."

"I sure hope so. I wanna go sightseeing on one of my off days," I tell him.

"Are you gonna take some pictures for your dad?" he asked. Just by the way he said it, I could tell my mom told him what's going on. I nodded my head yes, but I'm sure my eyes told a different story, and he knew too. He watches actors act for a living, so he could see right through me. In fact, I should've known better than to lie to him, but he didn't press any further.

"'Sup, Cup?" Amber asked Charlie.

"Amber! I told you not to talk about that!" he said.

"Too late! That's your new nickname," she said.  
"Why?" I asked.

"Because he-" Charlie stopped her by putting his hand over her mouth.

"Nothing! Nothing! It doesn't matter! Lets just forget it," he said. Steven smirked. So this is a secret that everyone is in on but me? Not fair! "You still don't have a nickname," he told me.

"Well, hop to it, kid. I need a nickname," I said.

"Since your full name is Calista, isn't Callie your nickname? And you shouldn't call me, 'kid.' I'm a month older, remember?," he asked.

"I remember," I told him. "But girls develop faster than boys. Anyway, everyone calls me Callie. You have to call me something different, like you do with Amber," I said.

"Oh. Feeling a bit jealous of the seven year old, are we?" he smiled playfully.

"No," I said, blushing. I guess that was partly true. Another thing I'd never admit.

"This is where we'll be filming on Monday, kids," Steven said. He showed us a small house. He took a key out of his pocket and unlocked to front door.

"We can actually go in?" Amber asked. Steven nodded.

"I want all three of you to walk in at the same time," he said. We all stepped through the small doorway at the same time. "Great! Now, besides me and the guys who came to work on the house, you three are the first members of the cast to step into Granny Wendy's house!"

"Wait, this is Granny Wendy's house?" I asked in disbelief.

"Yeah! Cool, isn't it?" he asked.

"Yeah, it's just smaller than I thought it would be," I said.

"This is so cool!" Amber said, bouncing around.

"What do you think, Charlie?" Steven asked. Charlie leaned against a wall.

"It's great," he said, unenthusiastically. I playfully punched him in the arm.

"Come on, dude. Don't be _that_ _guy_," I said.

"What guy?" Steven and Charlie asked together.

"Well," I said, pretending to examine my nails. "I'm just saying, there's a rumor going around the set that Charlie is standoffish," I said.

"He's anything but," Steven said.

"That's just what I heard," I said.

"Who told you that?" Charlie asked.

"I can't say," I said, playing with him now.

"I can! It was Tommy! But Tommy only said it 'cuz he heard it from Jasen, who heard it from Raushan, who heard it from Isaiah!" Amber announced. Another mental facepalm.

"Wow. So they really think that?" Charlie looked hurt.

"Well, hey. Don't sit here and cry about it-"

"I wasn't crying," he said.

"You were about to!" Amber said.

"Was not!"

"Was, too!" she said. Wow. So Amber can even start an argument with the smartest kid on set. That deserves a world record.

"I think what Callie was about to say is you shouldn't sit around and do nothing. Fix it," Steven said. I nodded.

"How?" Charlie asked.

"You could start by talking to someone. Make some friends," I told him.

"But I _have_ friends," he whined. "You and Amber."

"Dantes' throwing a cast party tonight and you're coming," I said.

"But I can't! I need to study tonight," he said.

"Study for what? You're a million bajillion times smarter than anyone I've ever met," I said.

"Technically, bajillion isn't a number," he said.

"Technically, I don't care," I said.

"Technically, where's the bathroom? And technically, what does technically mean?" Amber asked.

We'd been extremely tired since we arrived (jet lag) so we went to our new hotel rooms and slept. Well, I tried to sleep, but I was so excited. Everything seemed so new to me. '_So this is what it feel like sleeping on a bed in London._' I thought. After my mom fell asleep, I got a text from Trinity. Well, it was from her, but it wasn't. But it was. But it wasn't. Anyway, here's what it said:

Com 2 my room.

-Amber.

How is she so good at retrieving and unlocking everyone's phone? I quietly went to Amber's room. I had to be super stealthy because my mom and I had to share a room for this trip, so if she woke up and saw me leaving, I'd be in trouble. I'm supposed to ask her before I leave the room. Anyway, Amber had a suite, so her mom was asleep in another bedroom. Amber sat in the living room. The TV was playing a movie, but she was more focused on her iPad.

"Whatchya doing?" I asked.

"Researching Charlie," she said.

"Why?" I asked.

"He's your boyfriend. You have to know _everything_ about him!"

"Amber," I groaned. "He's not my-"

"No way! Look at this article I found!" she said, turning the iPad toward me.

'**Charlie Korsmo**' it read. '**Pregnant.**'

"Oh, Amber. Don't believe everything you read, honey," I said, giggling.

"I looked at IMDB earlier," she said. "It's like Facebook for famous people," she told me.

"I know what IMDB is," I laughed. Facebook for famous people. This kid is really one of a kind.

"How come we don't have one? We're in a movie," she said.

"Yeah, but the movie didn't come out yet, and since this is our first movie, no one really knows about us yet. But if we do a good job in this movie, we'll be really famous in a few years," I said.

"Hmm..." she said. She had an idea. I could tell. After a few seconds of tapping on her iPad, she showed me what she was working on. "Charlie has one."

"Yeah. He's been in more than one movie. He's a _superstar_," I said, putting sarcastic emphasis on the last word.

"I'm gonna read his bio!" she said.

"Knock yourself out," I said, trying to focus on the movie playing on the TV.

"That sounded mean," she said.

"Oh, just read," I said. She narrowed her eyes. I sighed. "Please."

She started reading. "Charles Rudolph Korsmo-"

"RUDOLPH!?" I said. I laughed until my sides hurt. I looked at the iPad, wiping tears of joy away. "Amber, that says, 'Randolph," I told her. I didn't expect her, a seven year old, to get every word right, but that was just really funny.

"Oh. That makes more sense. He doesn't look like a reindeer," she said, sending me into further fits of laughter.

"That's it!" I said. "That's his new nickname! I'll call him, 'Roo.'"

"I don't get it," she said.

"Like, a shorter version of, 'Rudolph," I explained.

"Oooh," she said, giggling. "What does he call you?"

"Special," I said accidentally.

"What?"

"Nothing...yet," I smiled.

**A/N: Hello, friends! Thank you sososososo much for being patient for this new chapter! I promise-promise-promise I'll update as much as I can now! New chapters coming almost every day (if not, more) until summer is over. I really appreciate all the nice comments! The next few chapters will all take place in London, where they shot the scenes for Granny Wendy's house. Enjoy!**


	11. Chapter 11

That night, the cast party ended up being cancelled as a result of Dante contracting the flu. We met again on Monday. Shooting day. I got my makeup and costume on quickly because I was excited to see Amber and Charlie. We would shoot the scenes in chronological order over the course of the next two weeks. We were dressed in coats (which was a good thing because it was the first week of December and freezing outside). The street in front of the house had been blocked off because of shooting.

"Callie!" Amber said running up to me. "Did you know that you and Charlie's names start with C?" she asked as if this were ground-breaking information. My eyebrows shot upward.

"Really?" I asked. "I had no idea."  
"The more you know," she told me. I giggled. "Look at him," she said, looking towards Charlie, who was talking to Robin.

"What about him?" I asked.

"Walkin' around here like he knows everything. I know more than him," she said.

"I'm sure you do, Amber," I told her, stifling a smile. "Hey, speaking of you knowing stuff, why do you call him, 'Cup?'" A question that had been on my mind all weekend.

"I can't tell you that," she said.

"Give me one good reason why you can't tell me!" I said.

"Charlie already gave me twenty good reasons not to tell you," she smiled, walking away. It must be embarrassing if he paid her not to tell anyone, and if it's embarrassing, I _need_ to find out!

After we shot our scenes, we went to our trailers. I had a mug of hot chocolate as I did my homework.

"Cheryl, how long have you known Charlie?" I asked.

"I've been his tutor since his first movie, why?" she asked.

"Has he ever shown signs of anything different? Weird, maybe?"

"No," she replied after thinking for a moment.

"Anything...Cup-worthy?" I asked. She gave me a weird look.

"Are you feeling okay? Is this another way to try and get out of school work? I've heard it all but I've never heard 'cup-worthy' before," she said.

"No, seriously," I said. "Since we got to London, everyone has been calling him Cup. _Everyone._ And I cannot, for the life of me, find out why!"

"Just ask Amber," she said.

"I tried. He paid her not to say anything."

"Ooh. Then it must be bad," she said.

"That's what I thought!"

"Well, I do happen to have my ways around the set," she said, dramatically flipping her hair. "I suppose I could find time to investigate your little 'Cup' situation…"

"Oh, Cheryl! Thank you so much! It's been bugging me all day!"

"But, only if you promise to do ALL of your homework," she said.

"Deal," I promised. She smiled evilly. Oh no. Now she's getting ideas.

"Ya know, I wouldn't mind an autograph from Robin, either," she said. I sighed.

"Fine," I said.

"Great! I'll see what I can do for ya!" she said. She grabbed her bag of books and scurried off to someone else's trailer as I got started on my mountain full of homework.

As the cup thing ate away at me, bigger issues started to evolve. My dad started calling more. I honestly didn't want to find out why. Later that night, our moms went out again, so we were left babysitting Amber. It was much easier this time because I only had to go find her once before she fell asleep in her bedroom. Charlie and I sat and watched 'Rio' in the living room when my phone rang yet again.

"Who's calling?" he asked, noticing that it had rang repeatedly before the birds even got to Rio.

"Oh, just my dad," I said.

"And you don't wanna answer it?" he asked.

"Nope," I said.

"Mind if I ask why?" he asked. I thought about this for a moment. My relationship with my dad wasn't something I told everyone about, but for some reason, I thought Charlie would get it.

"He just works all the time. He's never really had time for me or my mom or my sister. They're divorced," I said. "My dad can just be such a…" I struggled to find the right words.

"Peter Banning?" he asked. I grinned and nodded.

"Yeah. Peter Banning." Then, Charlie did the most unexpected thing ever. He hugged me. It was awkward and brief, but it was still a hug.

"So, um...what's your sister like?" he asked, trying to make conversation. I put my phone on vibrate and put it in the bathroom.

"I don't really know anymore," I said. "They live in New York. I've been here for the past few months. My dad has custody of her, so even when I lived there, I didn't see her often. I know that she wanted to be an actress, too, but my dad never has time for anyone but himself. I kinda feel bad for her." After I said this, there was another awkward silence. I heard a weird noise behind me. I paused the movie and listened. It was the sound of my phone vibrating from the bath tub in the bathroom. Charlie and I looked at each other and burst into laughter. I'm not really sure why, but at that moment, there was just so much to be happy about.

Since the night where I told Charlie about my dad, I've felt a big weight lift off my shoulders and it made us better friends, too. But, apparently, still not good enough friends for him to tell me about the 'Cup' thing, so eventually, I gave up. We were on set, shooting the scene where Granny Wendy sits in the fort with Maggie and Hartlyn and reads to them, and Jack stands off to the side with his baseball glove like a buzzkill.

"I have come up with a nickname for you," he announced in between takes.

"Really?" I asked, hiding how excited I was. He nodded.

"Calista," he said.

"That's my name, doofus," I said.

"I know, but it's special because I know what it means," he said.

"What does it mean?" I asked.

"I looked it up online. It means 'woman of the most beauty.'"

"Oh. Thanks," I smiled and blushed.

"Okay, everyone, back to work!" Steven called. "Speed, rolling, ACTION!"

**A/N: What are the odds, am I right, guys? I didn't even do the name thing on purpose! I looked it up to see what it meant last night. How convenient. **

**Relevant questions:**

**Will Callie resolve her issues with her dad?**

**Will she find out why Charlie is called 'Cup' (The reason isn't as interesting as you think, I promise. This is just something I threw in for more suspense. lol)**

**AND**

**Will she ever call him Roo? I mean, come on, she hasn't even done it once yet. -_-**

**PS: Should Challie be a thing? I've been wondering since the fanfic started. Should I make them a pair? Does anyone ship it? No? Just me? Okay.**

**Thanks for reading! Seeya in the next chapter! WILL BE POSTED SOON! BANGARANG! XD**

***Whispers***

**The story is about half-way finished, and it's too soon to tell, but I may or may not be thinking about a sequel… but you didn't hear it from me! **


	12. Chapter 12

Our trip to London was half over, so I _needed_ to go sightseeing. I finally came across an off day after we shot the scene where Peter yells at the kids, so mom took me around town. We went to Big Ben, drove past Buckingham Palace, and rode the London Eye. I didn't take any pictures. My mom was too busy doing that. She must've taken a million. After that, we went to a restaurant called, 'Criterion.'

"Why have you been ignoring your father's phone calls?" She asked me as we sat down at our table in the restaurant.

"I don't know," I mumbled.

"He might not be the best father in the world. but he's trying," she said.

"I don't care. I've moved on! I don't want to see him ever again!" I snapped. People started to stare, so I quieted down. My mom didn't want to hear this. That night, she was on her phone a lot. I wondered what she was doing. Was she talking to him?

A few days later, I eagerly ran to my trailer to meet Cheryl.

"Did you do your homework?" she asked. I nodded and showed her my completed worksheets. "And…" I sighed and handed her a baseball-Jack's baseball- with Robin's signature on it. She squealed. "Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" she said.

"I'll replace the ball before Steven notices it's gone," Robin had told me after he'd signed the ball. "Anything for the educators of today's youth!"

Now, I sat in my trailer, waiting to hear the news. I rubbed my hands together excitedly, but Cheryl didn't talk. She just admired her ball.

"Well?" I asked.

"Oh, right," she said. "No one was willing to tell me why they call him that."

"Oh my gosh…" I said. She sighed.

"Do you want the ball back?"

"No, you can keep the ball," I said. "Thanks for trying."

The mystery continues.

"How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?" Amber asked that day on set. We about to shoot the scene where we get kidnapped, which was weird because I'd never been kidnapped before.

"Woodchuck cannot, in fact, chuck wood, but assuming they can, I'm sure they would chuck a significant amount of wood," I said, trying to sound smart.

"If they can't chuck wood, why are they called woodchucks?" she asked.

"I dunno," I said. After that, we had to lay in our 'beds' and scream and stuff. It was kinda funny, actually. I had to cover up my laughter for most of the shooting. Now, we only had one more scene left to film before we left London. The scene at the very end of the movie, which we'd shoot two days later. After I left my trailer, I found Amber and Charlie talking to each other outside their trailers. I walked up quick enough to hear what they were saying.

"...if a woodchuck could chuck wood?" Amber was asking.

"A lot," Charlie said. "Hi, Callie!"

"Hi," I said.

"Say it. You know you wanna! Come on, just say it!" He said. I rolled my eyes, but said it anyway, just to make him happy.

"Hi, Cup."

"Really? You asked Cheryl to find out? You are sneaky!" he said.

"I wanted to find out! It's not fair!" I whined, sounding like Amber. "And I will find out! It's my life mission now!"

"You won't find out!" he said.

"It's a stupid nickname anyway!" I said, walking away.

The next day, Charlie's mom invited us to go to a museum with her.

"Charles isn't feeling well, so I thought maybe girls would like to go," she said to my mom.

"We'd love to, Debra," my mom said. I knew Charlie was feeling fine, he just didn't want to go out in public. He liked to stay in his room and study all the time. So, an hour later, we took a limo to the museum of London. My mom and Mrs. Korsmo (Debra, apparently) were talking most of the time, and I just tagged along behind.

"Charles doesn't know if he still wants to be an actor," Debra said. This shocked me. "After how far he's come. His career is just starting! Of course, I'm not going to force him to do something he doesn't want to do. It's kind of ironic, actually. He started acting as a way to get out of doing schoolwork. Now, he loves learning more than anything."

"If he doesn't want to be an actor, what does he want to be? Does he have any hobbies?" my mom asked.

"He plays football, but mostly studies all the time. He used to play baseball and wrestle, and there was one point in his life where he took on cup stacking, but I don't think-"

"Wait, what did you just say?" I asked, unsure if I'd heard her correctly.

"Cup stacking...where you stack cups into a neat little pyramid and unstack them again...he was really good at it," Debra said. I smiled evilly. _Cup stacker? The kids' a cup stacker? Hm…_

The next day was our last shooting day in London. Before we went to Granny Wendy's house, my mom and I went shopping to look for some stacking cups. Surprisingly, they weren't as hard to find as I thought they would be. When we got to set, I was so excited. I practically ran out of my trailer when my hair and makeup were done. I simply went up to Charlie, handed him the stacking cups we'd bought, said, "Cup stacker," and walked back to my trailer to get my costume on.

"How'd you find out?" he asked in between takes.

"The powers of your mom," I said. He facepalmed.

"You asked my mom?"

"Nope, but she told me," I said.

"Okay, Action!" Steven called. Dante, Dustin and Bob stood behind the cameras, along with some other Lost Boys. They wanted to see the last scene of the movie being filmed. It was kinda magical.

Once I got the stupid 'Cup' thing out of the way, I received more phone calls from my dad, and my mom made me answer them every so often. I was super sad the day we left London. It was such a cool place! But I knew we had to get back to America and finish shooting the rest of the movie. I sat next to Amber on the plane, hoping she'd want to chat, but she slept the whole way home, so I watched a movie and eventually fell asleep as well.

When we arrived, my mom seemed even more chipper than ever. I wondered what was going on. As we drove from the airport to the hotel, she sang every song on the radio on the way there.

When we arrived at the hotel, I got out of the car and stretched. I stretched my arms upward so that my shirt came up and my stomach was showing. Amber ran by (full of energy once again).  
"I see your tummy, Callie!" She said, before bolting into the hotel. I put my arms down and my stomach was covered once again. Oh, Amber. She's the funniest. My mom could barely contain her joy as we headed upstairs to our room. What was going on? She opened our hotel door, and there he was.

My dad.

**A/N: Sorry the beginning of this chapter was all about the 'Cup' thing. After a while, it kinda got boring, so I just told you guys. :P Hope you are enjoying so far. More twists coming up soon! Thanks for reading!**

**#Challie**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen**

"Callie!" he said. He gave me a big hug.

"How was London?" Camille asked.

"Cammie!" I yelled. It had been months since I'd seen her. I hugged her. "London was great. But why are you guys here?"

"Just figured we'd visit. I haven't seen you in such a while," my dad said.

"What about your job?" I asked. He looked back and forth between my mom and I.

"That can wait," he said.

"Oh...Can we go swimming?" I wanted to change the subject.

"Actually, your father will stay and unpack for us. It's the least he can do, right, Geoff?" she asked him. He nodded.

"You girls have some fun time. I'll take you all out for dinner tonight," he said.

"Okay," I said, glad to spend some time with them. By the time we got to the pool, Camille was all caught up with my life. It was like we hadn't even been apart.

"Wanna come to set with me tomorrow?" I asked.

"Sure!" she said, excited. Since we're twins, I look exactly like her. It's like looking in a mirror. Our personalities aren't the same, though. She's always been a bit smarter than me.

"Callie! You're phone is buzzing!" Mom called from our chairs beside the pool. I got out and checked my phone to find a text from Steven.

Banning Bonfire on the Beach

Tonight at 7. Don't be late :)

Dad took us to dinner at around five o'clock, so we were back in time for me to get ready for the bonfire. I put a dress over my bathing suit and Cammy braided my hair. Dad went to bed early so mom and Camille could spend time together. I was sent off to the beach.

"Who's excited to be back to the States?" Steven asked when I arrived. He seemed even happier than usual. It suddenly occurred to me why. _HE KNOWS. Mom must've told him that dad is here._

"MememeME!" Amber said.

"Someone's excited tonight," I noted.

"I HAD TWELVE PIXIE STICKS AND A BIG CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE," Amber said.

"That explains a lot," I told her.

"Let's play truth or dare! I'll go first! Dare! I dare me to run into the ocean," Amber said.

"I don't think that's how you're supposed to- oh, nevermind. She's already in the water," I giggled.

"Hello, friends," Charlie said, walking up.

"Hello, Charles," I said, imitating his mom.

"Hi, Calista," he said, imitating my mom. Amber came up to him and gave him a hug. "Why are you so cold, Squirt?"

"I dared myself to go in the ocean. Truth or dare?" she asked him.

"Truth," he said.

"Will you ever cup-stack for us?" I asked.

"No. Never," he said. I laughed. "Okay, Miss. Giggles. Truth or dare?" he asked me.

"Truth," I said.

"Is it true that you did all of your homework _and_ had Robin sign my baseball just to find out the 'Cup' thing from Cheryl?" he asked.

"No," I lied.

"I signed the baseball," Robin intervened.

"How'd you even find out about that?!" I asked, frustrated.

"I ask her things, too," he said.

"Robin signed the ball and gave it away?!" Steven asked.

"Speaking of Cheryl, did I do my homework today?" I questioned myself aloud.

"I didn't, but I don't care!" Amber said, reaching into her beach bag and pulling out another pixie stick.

"Wait, wait," Steven was freaking out. "We no longer have access to _Jack's_ baseball?!"

"Calm down, Steven, I'm sure Jack will get over it, right, Charlie?" Caroline asked.

"Well, Peter just gave away the most important thing in Jack's life...so no…" Charlie said. I held in a laugh as Steven paced about the sand, trying to figure out what to do.

"Steven, it's a baseball. There's a million others like it. I'm sure you'll find one good enough to fit the important role of 'Jack's Baseball,'" I told him.

"I gotta go make some phone calls," Steven said, walking back towards the hotel.

"I'd better go calm him down before I lose my job," Robin smiled and walked away.

"I should leave, too. I promised my kids I'd videochat them before I went to bed tonight," Caroline said. "Don't let Amber near the fire." Eventually, the fire would die down on it's own, so there was no danger for us to be there alone. We all sat on the sand.

"Truth or dare!" Amber turned to me.

"Truth," I said.

"How many days of the week are there?" she asked.

"Seven," I said.

"Truth or dare?" she asked Charlie.

"Truth," he said. Amber sighed and rolled her eyes.

"You guys are no fun," she said.

"Well, you should show us how it's done. Truth or dare?" I asked her.

"Dare!"

"I dare you to make snow angels in the sand," I said. She did.

"That was fun! But I got sand in my hair," I said. I laughed.

"Truth or dare, Callie?" she asked.

"Dare," I took my chances.

"I dare you to kiss Charlie," she said.

"Truth," I changed my answer.

"OH, come on, I'm not that bad, am I?" he asked. I sighed and kissed him on the cheek really fast.

"On the lips," Amber said.

"Amber!"

"Otherwise, you have to lick the fire," she said. Well, there was only one way to get out of this alive. So, I kissed Charlie Korsmo. Yup. That happened. But don't worry. It was quick.

"Great, now lets get married," he joked. After a few minutes, Amber crashed from her sugar high and fell asleep in the sand.

"How's life?" he asked.

"My dad is here," I told him.

"That's great!" he said.

"I guess."

"Wow. I wish my dad would come and visit," he said. "He's in Minneapolis, watching my brothers. He doesn't like watching me act on set. He thinks it's weird, watching me call other people my parents, even though he knows it's not real."

"Really?" I asked. I never thought about it like that. I wondered if my mom felt a little like that when she watched me act.

"Oh, Amber," Trinity said, walking up behind us and seeing Amber asleep. She picked up her daughter. "Come on, kids. Let's get back to the rooms. We should get to sleep. Shooting tomorrow," she reminded us.

When I got back to the room, my mom and Camille were watching a movie quietly.

"This is your idea of fun?" I asked them, dropping my beach bag in the middle of the floor.

"What do you suggest we do?" Camille asked.

"Let's paint each other nails."

I painted Camille's nails, Camille painted my mom's nails and my mom painted my nails, even though I knew I'd have to have it removed the next day. No nail polish in the movie. I decided on a bright orange color. My mom wanted pink and Camille wanted purple. I loved hanging out with them like we used to. After they dried, my mom turned on the stereo.

"Let's dance!" mom said. We had a wild dance party, and before I knew it, it was ten o'clock at night. "Alright, time for bed," told me.

I woke up at around two in the morning. I had to pee...bad. I got out of bed and walked through the dark to the bathroom. Before I knew it, I was on the floor and pain was shooting up my left leg.

"Callie?" my mom said, waking up and turning on the light. "Are you okay?" she asked when she saw me on the floor. I shook my head.

"I'm fine," I lied. I tried to stand up, but failed. It was hurting so bad that some tears fell from my eyes now. My mom came over to me and tried to help me up.

"You can't even stand up. We need to get you to the hospital."

I had a long night, which resulted in my ankle being broken and my foot being in a cast. We got to set early that morning and Steven freaked out.

"What happened?!" he asked.

"I tripped over my beach bag last night and twisted my ankle," I said. He pinched the bridge of his nose.

"What are we gonna do?" he asked.

"Callie, I brought you some ice for your ankle," Camille said, walking up to me and handing me the ice.

"Thanks," I said. Steven looked at Camille and I saw the light bulb go off in his head.

Later, Camille and I walked up to Amber and Charlie, who were in costume and ready to shoot.

"Hey Callie," Amber said to Camille, who was in my costume. "Hey...Callie?" she said to

me.

"Wait...what?" Charlie asked. I could see why they were confused, as there appeared to

be two of me.

"This is my twin sister, Camille," I said. "I sprained my ankle, and can't work for a few

weeks. Cammie is gonna play Hartlyn for me until I'm better," I said.

"You look just like each other," Amber noted.

"Callie! You know you are supposed to be careful. How could you just-"

"Charlie, calm down. Everything is fine," I said. Camille looked at me like, 'What's his

problem?' He crossed in arms.

"Whatever."

"'Kay, kids, let's go!" Steven called. I stood beside the camera as my sister played my

character. I felt a little jealous, but I was happy for Cammie because I could tell she was really happy.

"What was your problem earlier?" I asked later in Charlie's trailer. We were hanging out and doing schoolwork together.

"I didn't have a problem," he mumbled.

"Really? My throbbing ankle would beg to differ."

"Okay, I was a little upset. I don't want to do the movie with Camille. I want to do it with you. It's more fun with you. I don't know Camille. I've known you for months," he said. It still didn't make sense to me.

"Well, she's just like me. She's smart, so you guys can be nerds together, I guess."

"Callie, it's not about getting to know her or making new friends or whatever. It's about you, okay? I like _you_. Not her," he said. He got up and went outside. I felt my eyes widen and my heart beated faster. _He likes me? He likes me?! HE LIKES ME!?_

**A/N: Writing this as I watch Hook. Sorry for the infrequent updates. I go to a performing arts school now and it's really hard to keep up with everything, including writing. I'll try to post at least once a week. Enjoy.**

**#Challie**


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